ir PART SECOND
And fierce, and hot ; and sore the suffering ;
But proudly we endured it ; and shall hear,
No doubt, the tale of its far consequence
Ere many days. I'll read the details sent. (Cheers.)
He reads again from the dispatch amid more cheering, the ballroom guests crowding round. When he has done he answers questions ; then continuing :
Meanwhile our interest is, if possible,
As keenly waked elsewhere. Into the Scheldt
Some forty thousand bayonets and swords,
And twoscore ships oj the line, with frigates, sloops,
And gunboats sixty more, make headway now,
Bleaching the waters with their bellying sails ;
Or maybe they already anchor there,
And that the level ooze of Walcheren shore
Rings with the voices of that landing host
In every twang of British dialect,
Clamorous to loosen fettered Europe's chain ! (Cheers.)
A NOBLE LORD (aside to Sheridan)
Prinny's outpouring tastes suspiciously like your brew, Sheridan. I'll be damned if it is his own concoction. How d'ye sell it a gallon?
SHERIDAN
I don't deal that way nowadays. I give the recipe, and charge a duty on the gauging. It is more artistic, saves trouble.
The company proceed to the supper-rooms, and the ball-room sinks into solitude.
SPIRIT OF THE PITIES
So they pass on. Let be ! — But what is this — A moan ? — all frailly floating from the east To usward, even from the forename d isle ? . . . Would I had not broke nescience, to inspect A world so ill-contrived !
3*3